Child Support

Child Support Guidelines §61.29, Fla. Stat. Part 18 of 18| Divorce Attorney Fort Myers/Cape Coral

61.29, Fla. Stat., provides for child support guidelines principles. These principles do not affect the actual computation of the child support itself, but provide the following:

1. Each parent has a fundamental obligation to support his or her minor or legally dependent child.
2. The guideline schedule is based on the parents’ combined net incomes estimated to have been allocated to the child as if parents and children were living in an intact household.
3. The guidelines encourage fair and efficient settlement of support issues between parents and minimize the need for litigation.

Below please find some general information regarding child support and how it is calculated.

A Third Party’s Entitlement to Support

• The court may at any time order either or both parents who owe a duty of support to a child to pay support to the other parent or, in the case of both parents, to a third party who has custody in accordance with the child support guidelines schedule in § 61.30.

Administrative Support Orders v. Circuit Court

• 409.2563 establishes the administrative proceeding whereby the Department of Revenue can establish child support obligations in Title IV-D cases where there is no existing court order of support. Once properly established, the circuit court lacks jurisdiction to vacate or retroactively affect the order. Dep’t of Revenue v. Mansala, 982 So.2d 1257 (Fla. 1st DCA 2008).
• However, a circuit court does have the power to issue a superseding order changing support prospectively. Dep’t of Revenue ex rel. Dep’t of Revenue v. Secor, 39 Fla. L. Weekly D1972 (Fla. 2nd DCA Sept. 12, 2014).
• The administrative law judge has authority to retroactively modify its own order if that original administrative order has not been modified by a circuit court. Dep’t of Revenue v. Wolf & Guilliams, 164 So.3d 101 (Fla. 1st DCA 2015).

Temporary Abatement

• child being temporarily detained in jail or a juvenile facility, or the child is temporarily in a rehabilitation center, or where the obligor is temporarily out of work, or temporarily injured and unable to work; all situations where the reason for abatement is clearly temporary.

Uniform Interstate Family Support Act.

• When not all parties reside in FL, a Florida court may only modify the foreign order under one of the following circumstances:
  • After notice and a hearing, the court finds that:

1. The child, oblige and obligor do not reside in the issuing state;
2. The Petitioner seeks modification and is NOT a FL resident; and
3. The Florida tribunal has personal jurisdiction over the respondent.

For more information, please contact us to schedule your consultation.

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